Branding 101: Get Personal

In my last blog, I talked about the importance of letting your customers know who you are, not just what your business does. Because I am all about helping your brand be successful, I wanted to show you how being personal helps you connect to your audience.

It's December 15. 10 days until Christmas. I force myself to wait to turn on the holiday channel on satellite radio until Thanksgiving when my family and I put up our Christmas tree so right about now the music is getting redundant. We'd turn it off, but somehow it is enhancing the excitement of the downhill slide between now and next week; you know, it's like it's Christmas week at school anyway. So Christmas music is the soundtrack playing quietly in the background.

My son is a freshman in high school so this is a year of firsts. He We survived marching band season and the first indoor band concert of the season is tomorrow night. I was given a piece of paper letting me know that the uniform is "dress blacks", black, collared, long sleeve button-up shirt, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. I was not given this piece of paper Friday night when my son brought it home, but instead tonight, the week before Christmas. Another thing to know about my son is that he is 6'4" and 140 lbs so finding clothes for him any time is difficult, but with less than 24 hours notice and the week before Christmas-- well, this is why I have a flexible job. Today it's to flex to meet my son's needs, next time it'll be to meet yours, even if that is helping you find a pair of size 14 men's dress shoes with 12 hours to spare.

That crisis was averted when we found the needed clothing in the closet; it may be a bit too big, but it'll do. Instead I am working on keeping this fire blazing.

You can probably guess that I am not doing so well while I'm writing this. But, alas. This is how it works. I give you a little and then I can go back to making merry.

Speaking of which, my fire really is slowly dying and I think you can see how a little storytelling can help your audience connect to you.

Now, who has a blowtorch? (Humor helps too!)

Hello, My Brand Is

In case no one has told you, marketing has changed since the Mad Men days. People don’t want the businesses they interact with to push propaganda about their product. Customers today want to know the deep stuff about what matters to your brand. People want to do business with brands who are committed to making a difference.

The internet has put information at people’s fingertips and made the business world smaller. Your customer can research what they are looking for, all the places to find it, make payment, and be ready for service in the time it takes to finish a cup of coffee. Cost difference can be a big influence but customers are also interested in who they do business with. The desire to support a local business, or at least a regional one, can be seen in the success of Small Business Saturday. Besides helping stimulate the local economy, people enjoy being able to have their needs met with products and services that are locally sourced. Even more important is that people enjoy the connection with the business. They want to ask the business owner about a product, greet the receptionist with a lively conversation about their mutual support of the same university, and other seemingly little things that add up to make the customer feel their contribution to the company’s bottom line is worthwhile.

The catch 22 here is that when you are introducing yourself to clients in the virtual environment of social media, your website, or a blog, it is more difficult to demonstrate places for your clients to connect with you. Brands which revert to the outdated method of trying to gain customers by touting business achievements are finding they are losing out to competitors who are committed to making a difference. A recent article in Co. Exist reports that in North America, 42% of “people are willing to pay extra for products and services that they believe come from companies committed to making positive social and environmental change”. This is where you can use your virtual spaces to share how your brand is helping. Share a link to the local newspaper’s story about your company’s gift (of time and/or money) to a local non-profit organization. Blog about your brand’s giving goals for the year and tell why the organization(s) you designate giving to matter to you. These are the places that people will connect with you and make them want to help you fulfill your social commitments. Even if they never step foot inside your business, they can feel good about contributing to your success.

Customers don’t care about your business goals, in fact, those kinds of figures make them cynical. They want to see that your brand is genuinely interested in making a difference with any profit you make from them. Share the contributions you’re proud of in your online spaces. This is what makes customers want to do business with you. Be sure you are showing them how your brand is committed to making positive changes, not your bottom line.

Of note: This is not an endorsement of corporate giving as a marketing strategy. I choose to do business with brands who are truly interested in embracing the kind of responsibility that online marketing has encouraged.